F1: Piastri ready to play supporting role for Norris in championship challenge

Singapore, Sep 19 (IANS) Oscar Piastri has confirmed he is prepared to support his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, in the latter’s championship challenge, should the situation call for it during this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.

Piastri, who claimed his first win of the season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, acknowledged that despite his recent victory, McLaren’s strategy is still focused on giving Norris the best possible chance of competing for the title. Norris, who currently sits 59 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, is McLaren’s best hope of mounting a serious challenge for the championship.

Speaking ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the Australian reflected on his role within the team and emphasised that his primary goal remains to win races. However, Piastri made it clear that he is willing to assist Norris if needed. “Lando is still ahead in the championship and, just being honest, has a more realistic chance of winning the championship,” BBC quoted Piastri as saying. “If I am in a position to still win races, that’s what I want to do. But naturally, if there are times I can help out for Lando’s championship bid, then I’ll be happy to help if I can.”

Norris has been McLaren’s lead driver in the championship fight, having outpaced Piastri by 32 points going into Singapore. McLaren has already leaned towards supporting Norris, with team principal Andrea Stella previously stating that the team would “bias” their strategy towards the Briton due to his closer proximity to the championship leader Verstappen.

Despite these plans, Piastri noted that his teammate was unable to capitalise on the strategy in Baku, where Norris was affected by a yellow flag during qualifying and started 15th on the grid. He ultimately finished fourth, one place ahead of Verstappen, while Piastri drove to victory.

Reflecting on his Baku triumph, Piastri credited Norris for playing a crucial role in the team’s success, particularly with tyre management. “Lando was definitely a factor in the race. He helped with some ‘tyre saving’ with Checo [Sergio Perez],” Piastri said, referring to Norris backing up Perez to give his teammate a strategic advantage during his pit stop.

However, Piastri was cautious about predicting how the team’s dynamic would evolve in Singapore, explaining that much depends on how the race weekend unfolds. “Until you arrive in a specific situation, it’s difficult to discuss apart from demonstrating it on track,” he added.

Meanwhile, Verstappen, who has been facing a dip in Red Bull’s competitiveness, also addressed the media in Singapore. After going seven races without a victory, the reigning world champion acknowledged that the Singapore track’s characteristics could pose challenges for his team. “Our car is generally not very good on bumps and kerbs and that’s what we have here,” Verstappen admitted. “We have to try and stabilize it. I am definitely targeting Q3 but let’s see where we end up.”

Verstappen also expressed his approval of Red Bull’s plan to promote his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, to a wider role in the team, following sporting director Jonathan Wheatley’s upcoming departure to Sauber/Audi. Lambiase will be appointed head of racing at the end of the season while continuing his duties as Verstappen’s race engineer.

“He already did more than just being my race engineer. It’s about spreading the load,” Verstappen explained. “For me, that’s fine.”

–IANS

hs/ab